Method for the high level expression, purification and refolding of the outer membrane group B porin proteins from Neisseria meningitidis

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates, in general, to a method for the high level expression of the outer membrane protein meningococcal group B porin proteins and fusion proteins thereof. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of expressing the outer membrane protein meningococcal group B porin proteins in E. coli wherein the meningococcal group B porin proteins and fusion proteins thereof comprise more than 2% of the total protein expressed in E. coli. The invention also relates to a method of purification and refolding of the meningococcal group B porin proteins and fusion proteins thereof and to their use in vaccines.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/431,264, filed Apr. 28, 1995, now abandoned, and a division, of application Ser. No. 08/096,182, filed Jul. 23, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,808.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the field of recombinant genetics, protein expression, and vaccines. The present invention relates, in particular, to a method of expressing in a recombinant host an outer membrane group B porin protein from Neisseria meningitidis. The invention also relates to a method of purification and refolding of the recombinant protein.

2. Background Information

The outer membranes of Neisseria species much like other Gram negative bacteria are semi-permeable membranes which allow free flow access and escape of small molecular weight substances to and from the periplasmic space of these bacteria but retard molecules of larger size (Heasley, F. A., et al., "Reconstitution and characterization of the N. gonorrhoeae outer membrane permeability barrier," in Genetics and Immunobiology of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Danielsson and Normark, eds., University of Umea, Umea, pp. 12-15 (1980); Douglas, J. T., et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 12:305-309 (1981)). One of the mechanisms whereby this is accomplished is the inclusion within these membranes of proteins which have been collectively named porins. These proteins are made up of three identical polypeptide chains (Jones, R. B., et al., Infect. Immun. 30:773-780 (1980); McDade, Jr. and Johnston, J. Bacteriol. 141:1183-1191 (1980)) and in their native trimer conformation, form water filled, voltage-dependent channels within the outer membrane of the bacteria or other membranes to which they have been introduced (Lynch, E. C., et al., Biophys. J. 41:62 (1983); Lynch, E. C., et al., Biophys. J. 45:104-107 (1984); Young, J. D. E., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80:3831-3835 (1983); Mauro, A., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:1071-1075 (1988); Young, J. D., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:150-154 (1986)). Because of the relative abundance of these proteins within the outer membrane, these protein antigens have also been used to subgroup both Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis into several serotypes for epidemiological purposes (Frasch, C. E., et al., Rev. Infect. Dis. 7:504-510 (1985); Knapp, J. S., et al., "Overview of epidemiological and clinical applications of auxotype/serovar classification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae," The Pathogenic Neisseriae, Schoolnik, G. K., ed., American Society for Microbiology, Washington, pp. 6-12 (1985)). To date, many of these proteins from both gonococci and meningococci have been purified (Heckels, J. E., J. Gen. Microbiol. 99:333-341 (1977); James and Heckels, J. Immunol. Meth. 42:223-228 (1981); Judd, R. C., Anal. Biochem. 173:307-316 (1988); Blake and Gotschlich, Infect. Immun. 36:277-283 (1982); Wetzler, L. M., et al., J. Exp. Med. 168:1883-1897 (1988)), and cloned and sequenced (Gotschlich, E. C., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:8135-8139 (1987); McGuinness, B., et al., J. Exp. Med. 171:1871-1882 (1990); Carbonetti and Sparling, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:9084-9088 (1987); Feavers, I. M., et al., Infect. Immun. 60:3620-3629 (1992); Murakami, K., et al., Infect. Immun. 57:2318-2323 (1989); Wolff and Stern, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 83:179-186 (1991); Ward, M. J., et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 73:283-289 (1992)).

The porin proteins were initially co-isolated with lipopolysaccharides. Consequently, the porin proteins have been termed "endotoxin-associated proteins" (Bjornson et al., Infect. Immun. 56:1602-1607 (1988)). Studies on the wild type porins have reported that full assembly and oligomerization are not achieved unless LPS from the corresponding bacterial strain is present in the protein environment (Holzenburg et al., Biochemistry 28:4187-4193 (1989); Sen and Nikaido, J. Biol. Chem. 266:11295-11300 (1991)).

The meningococcal porins have been subdivided into three major classifications which in antedated nomenclature were known as Class 1, 2, and 3 (Frasch, C. E., et al., Rev. Infect. Dis. 7:504-510 (1985)). Each meningococcus examined has contained one of the alleles for either a Class 2 porin gene or a Class 3 porin gene but not both (Feavers, I. M., et al., Infect. Immun. 60:3620-3629 (1992)); Murakami, K., et al., Infect. Immun. 57:2318-2323 (1989)). The presence or absence of the Class 1 gene appears to be optional. Likewise, all probed gonococci contain only one porin gene with similarities to either the Class 2 or Class 3 allele (Gotschlich, E. C., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:8135-8139 (1987); Carbonetti and Sparling, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:9084-9088 (1987)). N. gonorrhoeae appear to completely lack the Class 1 allele. The data from the genes that have been thus far sequenced would suggest that all neisserial porin proteins have at least 70% homology with each other with some variations on a basic theme (Feavers, I. M., et al., Infect. Immun. 60:3620-3629 (1992)). It has been suggested that much of the variation seen between these neisserial porin proteins is due to the immunological pressures brought about by the invasion of these pathogenic organisms into their natural host, man. However, very little is known about how the changes in the porin protein sequence effect the functional activity of these proteins.

It has been previously reported that isolated gonococcal porins of the Class 2 allelic type behave electrophysically somewhat differently than isolated gonococcal porins of the Class 3 type in lipid bilayer studies both in regards to their ion selectivity and voltage-dependence (Lynch, E. C., et al., Biophys. J. 41:62 (1983); Lynch, E. C., et al., Biophys. J. 45:104-107 (1984)). Furthermore, the ability of the different porins to enter these lipid bilayers from intact living bacteria seems to correlate not only with the porin type but also with the neisserial species from which they were donated (Lynch, E. C., et al., Biophys. J. 45:104-107 (1984)). It would seem that at least some of these functional attributes could be related to different areas within the protein sequence of the porin. One such functional area, previously identified within all gonococcal Class 2-like proteins, is the site of chymotrypsin cleavage. Upon chymotrypsin digestion, this class of porins lack the ability to respond to a voltage potential and close. Gonococcal Class 3-like porins as well as meningococcal porins lack this sequence and are thus not subject to chymotrypsin cleavage but nonetheless respond by closing to an applied voltage potential (Greco, F., "The formation of channels in lipid bilayers by gonococcal major outer membrane protein," thesis, The Rockefeller University, New York (1981); Greco, F., et al., Fed. Proc. 39:1813 (1980)).

The major impediment for such studies has been the ability to easily manipulate the porin genes by modern molecular techniques and obtain sufficient purified protein to carry out the biophysical characterizations of these altered porin proteins. It was early recognized that cloned neisserial porin genes, when expressed in Escherichia coli, were lethal to the host E. coli (Carbonetti and Sparling, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:9084-9088 (1987); Carbonetti, N. H., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:6841-6845 (1988); Barlow, A. K., et al., Infect. Immun. 55:2734-2740 (1987)). Thus, many of these genes were cloned and sequenced as pieces of the whole gene or placed into low copy number plasmids under tight expression control (Carbonetti, N. H., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:6841-6845 (1988)). Under these conditions, even when the entire porin gene was expressed, very little protein accumulated that could be further purified and processed for characterization.

Another tack to this problem which has met with a modicum of success has been to clone the porin genes into a low copy, tightly controlled expression plasmid, introduce modifications to the porin gene, and then reintroduce the modified sequence back into Neisseria (Carbonetti, N. H., et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:6841-6845 (1988)). However, this has also been fraught with problems due to the elaborate restriction endonuclease system present in Neisseria, especially gonococci (Davies, J. K., Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 2:S78-S82 (1989)).

The present invention is directed to an approach to overcome these difficulties. The DNA sequence of the mature porin proteins, e.g. class 2 and class 3 as well as fusions thereof, may be amplified using the chromosome of the meningococcal bacteria as a template for the PCR reaction. The amplified porin sequences were ligated and cloned into an expression vector containing the T7 promoter. E. coli strain BL21 lysogenic for the DE3 lambda phage (Studier and Moffatt, J. Mol. Biol. 189:113-130 (1986)), modified to eliminate the ompA gene, was selected as one expression host for the pET-17b plasmid containing the porin gene. Upon induction, large amounts of the meningococcal porin proteins accumulated within the E. coli without any obvious lethal effects to the host bacterium. The expressed meningococcal porin proteins were extracted and processed through standard procedures and finally purified by molecular sieve chromatography and ion exchange chromatography. As judged by the protein profile from the molecular sieve chromatography, the recombinant meningococcal porins eluted from the column as trimers. To be certain that no PCR artifacts had been introduced into the meningococcal porin genes to allow for such high expression, the inserted PorB gene sequence was determined. Inhibition ELISA assays were used to give further evidence that the expressed recombinant porin proteins had renatured into their natural antigenic and trimer conformation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Porins from different neisserial strains and species have been shown to have differences in both primary amino acid sequence and biophysical characteristics as observed by functional assays. A closer examination of how the changes in the primary amino acid sequence of Neisseria porin molecules correlate with these observed biophysical changes has been impeded by the ability to easily manipulate the cloned porin genes by modern molecular techniques and then subsequently obtain enough of the expressed modified porin protein to purify and apply to these biophysical functional assays. In this invention, the gene coding for a mature PorB protein, lacking the neisserial promoter and signal sequence, was cloned into the expression plasmid pET-17b and transformed into E. coli. Upon induction, large amounts of the PorB protein was produced.

The expressed porin protein was then manipulated to regenerate its native trimer structure and was then purified. Sufficient purified recombinant porin protein was obtained for further antigenic as well as biophysical characterization. Thus, this sets the stage whereby the biophysical characterization of these neisserial porin proteins can be examined in more detail.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a method of expressing the meningococcal group B porin protein, in particular, the class 2 and class 3 porin proteins.

It is a specific object of the invention to provide a method of expressing the meningococcal group B class 2 or 3 porin protein in E. coli comprising:

(a) transforming E. coli by a vector comprising a selectable marker and a gene coding for a protein selected from the group consisting of

(i) a mature porin protein, and

(ii) a fusion protein comprising a mature porin protein fused

to amino acids 1 to 20 of the T7 gene φ10 capsid protein; wherein said gene is operably linked to the T7 promoter;

(b) growing the transformed E. coli in a culture media containing a selection agent, and

(c) inducing expression of said protein;

wherein the protein comprises more than 2% of the total protein expressed in the E. coli.

It is another specific object of the invention to provide a method of purifying and refolding a meningococcal group B porin protein and fusion protein produced according to the above-described methods.

It is a further specific object of the invention to provide a vaccine comprising the meningococcal group B porin protein and fusion protein, produced according to the above methods, in an amount effective to elicit protective antibodies in an animal to Neisseria meningitidis; and a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent, carrier, or excipient.

It is another specific object of the invention to provide the above-described vaccine, wherein said meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein is conjugated to a Neisseria meningitidis capsular polysaccharide.

It is a further specific object of the invention to provide a method of preventing bacterial meningitis in an animal comprising administering to the animal the meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein-vaccine produced according to the above-described methods.

It is another specific object of the invention to provide a method of preparing a polysaccharide conjugate comprising: obtaining the above-described meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein; obtaining a polysaccharide from a Neisseria meningitidis organism; and conjugating the meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein to the polysaccharide.

It is another specific object of the invention to provide a method of purifying the above-described meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein comprising: lysing the transformed E. coli to release the meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein as part of insoluble inclusion bodies; washing the inclusion bodies with a buffer to remove contaminating E. coli cellular proteins; resuspending and dissolving the inclusion bodies in an aqueous solution of a denaturant; diluting the resultant solution in a detergent; and purifying the solubilized meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography.

It is another specific object of the invention to provide a method of refolding the above-described meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein comprising: lysing the transformed E. coli to release the meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein as part of insoluble inclusion bodies; washing the inclusion bodies with a buffer to remove contaminating E. coli cellular proteins; resuspending and dissolving the inclusion bodies in an aqueous solution of a denaturant; diluting the resultant solution in a detergent; and purifying the solubilized meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein by gel filtration to give the refolded protein in the eluant.

It is another specific object of the invention to provide an E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) ΔompA host cell that contains a vector which comprises a DNA molecule coding for a meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein, wherein the DNA molecule is operably linked to the T7 promotor of the vector.

It is another specific object of the invention to provide the E coli strain BL21(DE3)ΔompA.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be clear from the description that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: A diagram showing the sequencing strategy of the PorB gene. The PCR product described in Example 1 (Materials and Methods section) was ligated into the BamHI-XhoI site of the expression plasmid pET-17b. The initial double stranded primer extension sequencing was accomplished using oligonucleotide sequences directly upstream of the BamHI site and just downstream of the XhoI site within the pET-17b plasmid. Additional sequence data was obtained by making numerous deletions in the 3' end of the gene, using exonuclease III/mung bean nuclease reactions. After religation and transformation back into E. coli, several clones were selected on size of insert and subsequently sequenced. This sequencing was always from the 3' end of the gene using an oligonucleotide primer just downstream of the Bpu11021 site.

FIG. 2: A gel electrophoresis showing the products of the PCR reaction (electrophoresed in a 1% agarose using TAE buffer).

FIGS. 3A and 3B. Panel (3A): SDS-PAGE analysis of whole cell lysates of E. coli hosting the control pET-17b plasmid without inserts and an E. coli clone harboring pET-17b plasmid containing an insert from the obtained PCR product described in the materials and methods section. Both cultures were grown to an O.D. of 0.6 at 600 nm, IPTG added, and incubated at 37° C. for 2 hrs. 1.5 mls of each of the cultures were removed, centrifuged, and the bacterial pellet solubilized in 100 μl of SDS-PAGE preparation buffer. Lane A shows the protein profile obtained with 10 μl from the control sample and Lanes B (5 μl) and C (10 μl) demonstrate the protein profile of the E. coli host expressing the PorB protein. Panel (3B): Western blot analysis of whole cell lysates of E. coli harboring the control pET-17b plasmid without insert after 2 hrs induction with IPTG, Lane A, 20 μl and a corresponding E. coli clone containing a porB-pET-17b plasmid, Lane B, 5 μl; Lane C, 10 μl; and Lane D, 20 μl. The monoclonal antibody 4D11 was used as the primary antibody and the western blot developed as described. The pre-stained low molecular weight standards from BRL were used in each case.

FIGS. 4A and 4B: The nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO. 1) and the translated amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO. 2) of the mature PorB gene cloned into the expression plasmid pET-17b. The two nucleotides which differ from the previously published serotype 15 PorB are underlined.

FIG. 5: A graph showing the Sephacryl S-300 column elution profile of both the wild type Class 3 protein isolated from the meningococcal strain 8765 and the recombinant Class 3 protein produced by BL21(DE3)-ΔompA E. coli strain hosting the r3pET-17b plasmid as monitored by absorption at 280 nm and SDS-PAGE analysis. The void volume of the column is indicated by the arrow. Fractions containing the meningococcal porin and recombinant porin as determined by SDS-PAGE are noted by the bar.

FIG. 6: A graph showing the results of the inhibition ELISA assays showing the ability of the homologous wild type (wt) PorB to compete for reactive antibodies in six human immune sera. The arithmetic mean inhibition is shown by the bold line.

FIG. 7: A graph showing the results of the inhibition ELISA assays showing the ability of the purified recombinant PorB protein to compete for reactive antibodies in six human immune sera. The arithmetic mean inhibition is shown by the bold line.

FIG. 8: A graph showing a comparison of these two mean inhibitions obtained with the wt and recombinant PorB protein.

FIGS. 9A-9C: The nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO. 3) and the translated amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO. 4) of the mature class II porin gene cloned into the expression plasmid pET-17b.

FIGS. 10A-10C: The nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO. 5) and the translated amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO. 6) of the fusion class II porin gene cloned into the expression plasmid pET-17b.

FIGS. 11A and 11B: FIG. 11A depicts the restriction map of the pET-17b plasmid. FIG. 11B depicts the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO. 7 AND SEQ ID NO. 9) between the BglII and XhoI sites of pET-17b. The sequence provided by the plasmid is in normal print while the sequence inserted from the PCR product are identified in bold print. The amino acids (SEQ ID NO. 8 AND SEQ ID NO. 10) which are derived from the plasmid are in normal print while the amino acids from the insert are in bold. The arrows demarcate where the sequence begins to match the sequence in FIGS. 4A and 4B and when it ends.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Unlike the porin proteins of E. coli and a few other gram negative bacteria, relatively little is known how changes in the primary sequence of porins from Neisseria effect their ion selectivity, voltage dependence, and other biophysical functions. Recently, the crystalline structure of two E. coli porins, OmpF and PhoE, were solved to 2.4 Å and 3.0 Å, respectively (Cowan, S. W., et al., Nature 358:727-733 (1992)). Both of these E. coli porins have been intensively studied owing to their unusual stability and ease with which molecular genetic manipulations could be accomplished. The data obtained for the genetics of these two porins correlated well with the crystalline structure. Although it has been shown in several studies, using monoclonal antibodies to select neisserial porins, that the surface topology of Neisseria closely resembles that of these two E. coli porins (van der Ley, P., et al., Infect. Immun. 59:2963-2971 (1991)), almost no information is available about how changes in amino acid sequences in specific areas of the neisserial porins effect their biophysical characteristics, as had been done with the E. coli porins (Cowan, S. W., et al., Nature 358:727-733 (1992)).

Two of the major problems impeding this research are: (1) the inability to easily manipulate Neisseria genetically by modern molecular techniques and (2) the inability to express sufficient quantities of neisserial porins in E. coli for further purification to obtain biophysical and biochemical characterization data. In fact, most of the DNA sequence data on gonococcal and meningococcal porins have been obtained by cloning overlapping pieces of the porin gene and then reconstructing the information to reveal the entire gene sequence (Gotschlich, E. C., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:8135-8139 (1987); Murakami, K., et al., Infect. Immun. 57:2318-2323 (1989)). Carbonetti et al. were the first to clone an entire gonococcal porin gene into E. coli using a tightly controlled pT7-5 expression plasmid. The results of these studies showed that when the porin gene was induced, very little porin protein accumulated and the expression of this protein was lethal to the E. coli (Carbonetti and Sparling, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:9084-9088 (1987)). In additional studies, Carbonetti et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:6841-6845 (1988)) did show that alterations in the gonococcal porin gene could be made in this system in E. coli and then reintroduced into gonococci. However, the ease with which one can make these manipulations and obtain enough porin protein for further biochemical and biophysical characterization seems limited.

Feavers et al. have described a method to amplify, by PCR, neisserial porin genes from a wide variety of sources using two synthesized oligonucleotides to common domains at the 5' and 3' ends of the porin genes respectively (Feavers, I. M., et al., Infect. Immun. 60:3620-3629 (1992)). The oligonucleotides were constructed such that the amplified DNA could be forced cloned into plasmids using the restriction endonucleases BglII and XhoI.

Using the Feavers et al. PCR system, the DNA sequence of the mature PorB protein from meningococcal strain 8765 serotype 15 was amplified and ligated into the BamHI-XhoI site of the T7 expression plasmid pET-17b. This placed the mature PorB protein sequence in frame directly behind the T7 promoter and 20 amino acids of the φ10 protein including the leader sequence. Upon addition of IPTG to a culture of E. coli containing this plasmid, large amounts of PorB protein accumulated within the bacteria. A complete explanation for why this construction was non-lethal to the E. coli and expressed large amount of the porin protein, await further studies. However, one possible hypothesis is that by replacing the neisserial promoter and signal sequence with that of the T7 and φ10 respectively, the porin product was directed to the cytoplasm rather than toward the outer membrane. Henning and co-workers have reported that when E. coli OmpA protein and its fragments are expressed, those products which are found in the cytoplasm are less toxic than those directed toward the periplasmic space (Klose, M., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263:13291-13296 (1988); Klose, M., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263:13297-13302 (1988); Freudl, R., et al., J. Mol. Biol. 205:771-775 (1989)). Whatever the explanation, once the PorB protein was expressed, it was easily isolated, purified and appeared to reform into trimers much like the native porin. The results of the inhibition ELISA data using human immune sera suggests that the PorB protein obtained in this fashion regains most if not all of the antigenic characteristics of the wild type PorB protein purified from meningococci. This expression system lends itself to the easy manipulation of the neisserial porin gene by modern molecular techniques. In addition, this system allows one to obtain large quantities of pure porin protein for characterization. In addition, the present expression system allows the genes from numerous strains of Neisseria, both gonococci and meningococci, to be examined and characterized in a similar manner.

Thus, the present invention relates to a method of expressing an outer membrane meningococcal group B porin protein, in particular, the class 2 and class 3 porin proteins.

In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of expressing the outer membrane meningococcal group B porin protein in E. coli comprising:

(a) transforming E. coli by a vector comprising a selectable marker and a gene coding for a protein selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a mature porin protein, and

(ii) a fusion protein comprising a mature porin protein fused to amino acids 1 to 20 or 22 of the T7 gene φ10 capsid protein;

wherein said gene is operably linked to the T7 promoter;

(b) growing the transformed E. coli in a culture media containing a selection agent, and

(c) inducing expression of said protein;

wherein the protein so produced comprises more than about 2% of the total protein expressed in the E. coli.

In a preferred embodiment, the meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein expressed comprises more than about 5% of the total proteins expressed in E. coli. In another preferred embodiment, the meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein expressed comprises more than about 10% of the total proteins expressed in E. coli. In yet another preferred embodiment, the meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein expressed comprises more than about 30% of the total proteins expressed in E. coli.

Examples of plasmids which contain the T7 inducible promotor include the expression plasmids pET-17b, pET-11a, pET-24a-d(+) and pET-9a, all of which are commercially available from Novagen (565 Science Drive, Madison, Wis. 53711). These plasmids comprise, in sequence, a T7 promoter, optionally a lac operator, a ribosome binding site, restriction sites to allow insertion of the structural gene and a T7 terminator sequence. See, the Novagen catalogue, pages 36-43 (1993).

In a preferred embodiment, E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) ΔompA is employed. The above mentioned plasmids may be transformed into this strain or the wild-type strain BL21(DE3). E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) ΔompA is preferred as no OmpA protein is produced by this strain which might contaminate the purified porin protein and create undesirable immunogenic side effects.

The transformed E. coli are grown in a medium containing a selection agent, e.g. any β-lactam to which E. coli is sensitive such as ampicillin. The pET expression vectors provide selectable markers which confer antibiotic resistance to the transformed organism.

High level expression of meningococcal group B porin protein can be toxic in E. coli. Surprisingly, the present invention allows E. coli to express the protein to a level of at least almost 30% and as high as >50% of the total cellular proteins.

In another preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to a vaccine comprising the outer membrane meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein thereof, produced according to the above-described methods, together with a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent, carrier, or excipient, wherein the vaccine may be administered in an amount effective to elicit protective antibodies in an animal to Neisseria meningitidis. In a preferred embodiment, the animal is selected from the group consisting of humans, cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens. In another preferred embodiment, the animal is a human.

In another preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to the above-described vaccine, wherein said outer membrane meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein thereof is conjugated to a meningococcal group B capsular polysaccharide (CP). Such capsular polysaccharides may be prepared as described in Ashton, F. E. et al., Microbial Pathog. 6:455-458 (1989); Jennings, H. J. et al., J. Immunol. 134:2651 (1985); Jennings, H. J. et al., J. Immunol. 137:1708-1713 (1986); Jennings, H. J. et al., J. Immunol. 142:3585-3591 (1989); Jennings, H. J., "Capsular Polysaccharides as Vaccine Candidates," in Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, 150:105-107 (1990); the contents of each of which are fully incorporated by reference herein.

Preferably, the CP is isolated according to Frasch, C. E., "Production and Control of Neisseria meningitidis Vaccines" in Bacterial Vaccines, Alan R. Liss, Inc., pages 123-145 (1990), the contents of which are fully incorporated by reference herein, as follows:

    ______________________________________                                         Grow organisms in modified Franz medium 10 to 20 hrs                           ↓ Heat kill, 55° C., 10 min                                      Remove inactivated cells by centrifugation                                     ↓ Add Cetavlon to 0.1%                                                  Precipitate CP from culture broth                                              ↓ Add calcium chloride to 1M                                            Dissolve CP then centrifuge to remove cellular debris                          ↓ Add ethyl alcohol to 25%                                              Remove precipitated nucleic acids by centrifugation                            ↓ Add ethyl alcohol to 80%                                              Precipitate crude CP and remove alcohol                                        ______________________________________                                    

The crude CP is then further purified by gel filtration chromatography after partial depolymerization with dilute acid, e.g. acetic acid, formic acid, and trifluoroacetic acid (0.01-0.5N), to give a mixture of polysaccharides having an average molecular weight of 12,000-16,000. The CP is then N-deacetylated with borohydride and N-propionylated to afford N--Pr GBMP. Thus, the CP that may be employed in the conjugate vaccines of the present invention may be CP fragments, N-deacylated CP and fragments thereof, as well as N--Pr CP and fragments thereof, so long as they induce active immunity when employed as part of a CP-porin protein conjugate (see the Examples).

In a further preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of preparing a polysaccharide conjugate comprising: obtaining the above-described outer membrane meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein thereof; obtaining a CP from a Neisseria meningitidis organism; and conjugating the protein to the CP.

The conjugates of the invention may be formed by reacting the reducing end groups of the CP to primary amino groups of the porin by reductive amination. The reducing groups may be formed by selective hydrolysis or specific oxidative cleavage, or a combination of both. Preferably, the CP is conjugated to the porin protein by the method of Jennings et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,170, the contents of which are fully incorporated by reference herein, which involves controlled oxidation of the CP with periodate followed by reductive amination with the porin protein.

The vaccine of the present invention comprises the meningococcal group B porin protein, fusion protein or conjugate vaccine in an amount effective depending on the route of administration. Although subcutaneous or intramuscular routes of administration are preferred, the meningococcal group B porin protein, fusion protein or vaccine of the present invention can also be administered by an intraperitoneal or intravenous route. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the amounts to be administered for any particular treatment protocol can be readily determined without undue experimentation. Suitable amounts might be expected to fall within the range of 2 micrograms of the protein per kg body weight to 100 micrograms per kg body weight.

The vaccine of the present invention may be employed in such forms as capsules, liquid solutions, suspensions or elixirs for oral administration, or sterile liquid forms such as solutions or suspensions. Any inert carrier is preferably used, such as saline, phosphate-buffered saline, or any such carrier in which the meningococcal group B porin protein, fusion protein or conjugate vaccine have suitable solubility properties. The vaccines may be in the form of single dose preparations or in multi-dose flasks which can be used for mass vaccination programs. Reference is made to Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mack Publishing Co., Easton, Pa., Osol (ed.) (1980); and New Trends and Developments in Vaccines, Voller et al. (eds.), University Park Press, Baltimore, Md. (1978), for methods of preparing and using vaccines.

The meningococcal group B porin protein, fusion protein or conjugate vaccines of the present invention may further comprise adjuvants which enhance production of porin-specific antibodies. Such adjuvants include, but are not limited to, various oil formulations such as Freund's complete adjuvant (CFA), stearyl tyrosine (ST, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,029), the dipeptide known as MDP, saponin, aluminum hydroxide, and lymphatic cytokine.

Freund's adjuvant is an emulsion of mineral oil and water which is mixed with the immunogenic substance. Although Freund's adjuvant is powerful, it is usually not administered to humans. Instead, the adjuvant alum (aluminum hydroxide) or ST may be used for administration to a human. The meningococcal group B porin protein or a conjugate vaccine thereof may be absorbed onto the aluminum hydroxide from which it is slowly released after injection. The meningococcal group B porin protein or conjugate vaccine may also be encapsulated within liposomes according to Fullerton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,877.

In another preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of preventing bacterial meningitis in an animal comprising administering to the animal the meningococcal group B porin protein, fusion protein or conjugate vaccine produced according to methods described in an amount effective to prevent bacterial meningitis.

In a further embodiment, the invention relates to a method of purifying the above-described outer membrane meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein comprising: lysing the transformed E. coli to release the meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein as part of insoluble inclusion bodies; washing the inclusion bodies with a buffer to remove contaminating E. coli cellular proteins; resuspending and dissolving the inclusion bodies in an aqueous solution of a denaturant; diluting the resultant solution in a detergent; and purifying the solubilized meningococcal group B porin protein by gel filtration.

The lysing step may be carried out according to any method known to those of ordinary skill in the art, e.g. by sonication, enzyme digestion, osmotic shock, or by passing through a mull press.

The inclusion bodies may be washed with any buffer which is capable of solubilizing the E. coli cellular proteins without solubilizing the inclusion bodies comprising the meningococcal group B porin protein. Such buffers include but are not limited to TEN buffer (50 mM Tris HCl, 1 mM EDTA, 100 mM NaCl, pH 8.0), Tricine, Bicine and HEPES.

Denaturants which may be used in the practice of the invention include 2 to 8M urea or about 2 to 6M guanidine HCl, more preferably, 4 to 8M urea or about 4 to 6M guanidine HCl, and most preferably, about 8M urea or about 6M guanidine HCl).

Examples of detergents which can be used to dilute the solubilized meningococcal group B porin protein include, but are not limited to, ionic detergents such as SDS and cetavlon (Calbiochem); non-ionic detergents such as Tween, Triton X, Brij 35 and octyl glucoside; and zwitterionic detergents such as 3,14-Zwittergent, empigen BB and Champs.

Finally, the solubilized outer membrane meningococcal group B porin protein may be purified by gel filtration to separate the high and low molecular weight materials. Types of filtration gels include but are not limited to Sephacryl-300, Sepharose CL-6B, and Bio-Gel A-1.5m. The column is eluted with the buffer used to dilute the solubilized protein. The fractions containing the porin or fusion thereof may then be identified by gel electrophoresis, the fractions pooled, dialyzed, and concentrated.

Finally, substantially pure (>95%) porin protein and fusion protein may be obtained by passing the concentrated fractions through a Q sepharose high performance column.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to expression of the meningococcal group B porin protein gene which is part of a vector which comprises the T7 promoter, which is inducible. If a promoter is an inducible promoter, then the rate of transcription increases in response to an inducing agent. The T7 promoter is inducible by the addition of isopropyl β-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) to the culture medium. Alternatively, the Tac promotor or heat shock promotor may be employed.

Preferably, the meningococcal group B porin protein gene is expressed from the pET-17 expression vector or the pET-11a expression vector, both of which contain the T7 promoter.

The cloning of the meningococcal group B porin protein gene or fusion gene into an expression vector may be carried out in accordance with conventional techniques, including blunt-ended or stagger-ended termini for ligation, restriction enzyme digestion to provide appropriate termini, filling in of cohesive ends as appropriate, alkaline phosphatase treatment to avoid undesirable joining, and ligation with appropriate ligases. Reference is made to Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed., Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (1989), for general methods of cloning.

The meningococcal group B porin protein and fusion protein expressed according to the present invention must be properly refolded in order to achieve a structure which is immunologically characteristic of the native protein. In yet another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of refolding the above-described outer membrane protein and fusion protein comprising: lysing the transformed E. coli to release the meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein as part of insoluble inclusion bodies; washing the inclusion bodies with a buffer to remove contaminating E. coli cellular proteins; resuspending and dissolving the inclusion bodies in an aqueous solution of a denaturant; diluting the resultant solution in a detergent; and purifying the solubilized meningococcal group B porin protein or fusion protein by gel filtration to give the refolded protein in the eluant. Surprisingly, it has been discovered that the folded trimeric meningococcal group B class 2 and class 3 porin proteins and fusion proteins are obtained directly in the eluant from the gel filtration column.

In another preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to a substantially pure refolded outer membrane meningococcal group B porin protein and fusion protein produced according to the above-described methods. A substantially pure protein is a protein that is generally lacking in other cellular Neisseria meningitidis components as evidenced by, for example, electrophoresis. Such substantially pure proteins have a purity of >95%, as measured by densitometry on an electrophoretic gel after staining with Coomassie blue or silver stains.

The following examples are illustrative, but not limiting, of the method and compositions of the present invention. Other suitable modifications and adaptations of the variety of conditions and parameters normally encountered in this art which are obvious to those skilled in the art are within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Cloning of the Class 3 Porin Protein from Group B Neisseria meningitidis

Materials and Methods

Organisms: The Group B Neisseria meningitidis strain 8765 (B:15:P1,3) was obtained from Dr. Wendell Zollinger (Walter Reed Army Institute for Research) and grown on agar media previously described (Swanson, J. L., Infect. Immun. 21:292-302 (1978)) in a candle extinction jar in an incubator maintained at 30° C. Escherichia coli strains DME558 (from the collection of S. Benson; Silhavy, T. J. et al., "Experiments with Gene Fusions," Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1984), BRE51 (Bremer, E. et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 33:173-178 (1986)) and BL21(DE3) were grown on LB agar plates at 37° C.

P1 Transduction: A P1_(vir) lysate of E. coli strain DME558 was used to transduce a tetracycline resistance marker to strain BRE51 (Bremer, E., et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 33:173-178 (1986)) in which the entire ompA gene had been deleted (Silhavy, T. J., et al., Experiments with Gene Fusions, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1984)). Strain DME558, containing the tetracycline resistance marker in close proximity of the ompA gene, was grown in LB medium until it reached a density of approximately 0.6 OD at 600 nm. One tenth of a milliliter of 0.5M CaCl₂ was added to the 10 ml culture and 0.1 ml of a solution containing 1×10⁹ PFU of P1vir. The culture was incubated for 3 hours at 37° C. After this time, the bacterial cell density was visibly reduced. 0.5 ml of chloroform was added and the phage culture stored at 4° C. Because typically 1-2% of the E. coli chromosome can be packaged in each phage, the number of phage generated covers the entire bacterial host chromosome, including the tetracycline resistance marker close to the ompA gene.

Next, strain BRE51, which lacks the ompA gene, was grown in LB medium overnight at 37° C. The overnight culture was diluted 1:50 into fresh LB and grown for 2 hr. The cells were removed by centrifugation and resuspended in MC salts. 0.1 ml of the bacterial cells were mixed with 0.05 of the phage lysate described above and incubated for 20 min. at room temperature. Thereafter, an equal volume of 1M sodium citrate was added and the bacterial cells were plated out onto LB plates containing 12.5 μg/ml of tetracycline. The plates were incubated overnight at 37° C. Tetracycline resistant (12 μg/ml) transductants were screened for lack of OmpA protein expression by SDS-PAGE and Western Blot analysis, as described below. The bacteria resistant to the antibiotic have the tetracycline resistance gene integrated into the chromosome very near where the ompA gene had been deleted from this strain. One particular strain was designated BRE-T®.

A second round of phage production was then carried out with the strain BRE-T®, using the same method as described above. Representatives of this phage population contain both the tetracycline resistance gene and the OmpA deletion. These phage were then collected and stored. These phage were then used to infect E. coli BL21(DE3). After infection, the bacteria contain the tetracycline resistance marker. In addition, there is a high probability that the OmpA deletion was selected on the LB plates containing tetracycline.

Colonies of bacteria which grew on the plates were grown up separately in LB medium and tested for the presence of the OmpA protein. Of those colonies selected for examination, all lacked the OmpA protein as judged by antibody reactivity on SDS-PAGE western blots.

SDS-PAGE and Western Blot: The SDS-PAGE was a variation of Laemmli's method (Laemmli, U. K., Nature 227:680-685 (1970)) as described previously (Blake and Gotschlich, J. Exp. Med. 159:452-462 (1984)). Electrophoretic transfer to Immobilon P (Millipore Corp. Bedford, Mass.) was performed according to the methods of Towbin et al. (Towbin, H., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76:4350-4354 (1979)) with the exception that the paper was first wetted in methanol. The Western blots were probed with phosphatase conjugated reagents (Blake, M. S., et al., Analyt. Biochem. 136:175-179 (1984)).

Polymerase Chain Reaction: The method described by Feavers et al. (Feavers, I. M., et al., Infect. Immun. 60:3620-3629 (1992)) was used to amplify the gene encoding the PorB. The primers selected were primers 33 (SEQ ID NO. 11) (GGG GTA GAT CTG CAG GTT ACC TTG TAC GGT ACA ATT AAA GCA GGC GT) and 34 (SEQ ID NO. 12) (GGG GGG GTG ACC CTC GAG TTA GAA TTT GTG ACG CAG ACC AAC) as previously described (Feavers, I. M., et al., Infect. Immun. 60:3620-3629 (1992)). Briefly, the reaction components were as follows: Meningococcal strain 8765 chromosomal DNA (100 ng/μl), 1 μl; 5' and 3' primers (1 μM) 2 μl each; dNTP (10 mM stocks), 4 μl each; 10×PCR reaction buffer (100 mM Tris HCl, 500 mM KCl, pH 8.3), 10 μl; 25 mM MgCl₂, 6 μl; double distilled H₂ O, 62 μl; and Taq polymerase (Cetus Corp., 5 u/μl), 1 μl. The reaction was carried out in a GTC-2 Genetic Thermocycler (Precision Inst. Inc, Chicago, Ill.) connected to a Lauda 4/K methanol/water cooling system (Brinkman Instruments, Inc., Westbury, N.Y.) set at 0° C. The thermocycler was programmed to cycle 30 times through: 94° C., 2 min.; 40° C., 2 min.; and 72° C., 3 min. At the end of these 30 cycles, the reaction was extended at 72° C. for 3 min and finally held at 4° C. until readied for analysis on a 1% agarose gel in TAE buffer as described by Maniatis (Maniatis, T., et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1982)).

Subcloning of the PCR product: The pET-17b plasmid (Novagen, Inc.) was used for subcloning and was prepared by double digesting the plasmid with the restriction endonucleases BamHI and XhoI (New England Biolabs, Inc., Beverly, Mass.). The digested ends were then dephosphorylated with calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase (Boehringer Mannheim, Indianapolis, Ind.). The digested plasmid was then analyzed on a 1% agarose gel, the cut plasmid removed, and purified using the GeneClean kit (Bio101, La Jolla, Calif.). The PCR product was prepared by extraction with phenol-chloroform, chloroform, and finally purified using the GeneClean Kit (Bio101). The PCR product was digested with restriction endonucleases BglII and XhoI (New England Biolabs, Inc.). The DNA was then extracted with phenol-chloroform, precipitated by adding 0.1 volumes of 3M sodium acetate, 5 μl glycogen (20 μg/μl), and 2.5 volumes of ethanol. After washing the DNA with 70% ethanol (vol/vol), it was redissolved in TE buffer. The digested PCR product was ligated to the double digested pET-17b plasmid described above using the standard T4 ligase procedure at 16° C. overnight (Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, New York (1993)). The ligation product was then transformed into the BL21 (DE3)-ΔompA described above which were made competent by the method of Chung et al. (Chung, C. T., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:2172-2175 (1989)). The transformants were selected on LB plates containing 50 μg/ml carbenicillin and 12 μg/ml tetracycline. Several transformants were selected, cultured in LB both containing carbenicillin and tetracycline for 6 hours at 30° C., and plasmid gene expression inducted by the addition of IPTG. The temperature was raised to 37° C. and the cultures continued for an additional 2 hrs. The cells of each culture were collected by centrifugation, whole cell lysates prepared, and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western Blot using a monoclonal antibody (4D11) which reacts with all neisserial porins.

Nucleotide Sequence Analysis: The nucleotide sequences of the cloned Class 3 porin gene DNA were determined by the dideoxy method using denatured double-stranded plasmid DNA as the template as described (Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, New York (1993)). Sequenase II kits (United States Biochemical Corp., Cleveland, Ohio) were used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. The three synthesized oligonucleotide primers (Operon Technologies, Inc., Alameda, Calif.) were used for these reactions. One for the 5' end (SEQ ID NO. 13) which consisted of 5'TCAAGCTTGGTACCGAGCTC and two for the 3' end, (SEQ ID NO. 14) 5'TTTGTTAGCAGCCGGATCTG (SEQ ID NO. 15) and 5' CTCAAGACCCGTTTAGAGGCC. Overlapping, nested deletions were made by linearizing the plasmid DNA by restriction endonuclease Bpu11021 and the ends blunted by the addition of Thio-dNTP and Klenow polymerase (Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, New York (1993)). The linearized plasmid was then cleaved with restriction endonuclease XhoI and the exoII/Mung bean nuclease deletion kit used to make 3' deletions of the plasmid (Stratagene, Inc., La Jolla, Calif.) as instructed by the supplier. A map of this strategy is shown in FIG. 1.

Expression and purification of the PorB gene product: Using a sterile micropipette tip, a single colony of the BL21 (DE3)-ΔompA containing the PorB-pET-17b plasmid was selected and inoculated into 10 ml of LB broth containing 50 μg/ml carbenicillin. The culture was incubated overnight at 30° C. while shaking. The 10 ml overnight culture was then sterily added to 1 liter of LB broth with the same concentration of carbenicillin, and the culture continued in a shaking incubator at 37° C. until the OD₆₀₀ reached 0.6-1.0. Three mls of a stock solution of IPTG (100 mM) was added to the culture and the culture incubated for an additional 30 min. Rifampicin was then added (5.88 ml of a stock solution; 34 mg/ml in methanol) and the culture continued for an additional 2 hrs. The cells were harvested by centrifugation at 10,000 rpm in a GS3 rotor for 10 min and weighed. The cells were thoroughly resuspended in 3 ml of TEN buffer (50 mM Tris HCl, 1 mM Tris HCl, 1 mM EDTA, 100 mM NaCl, pH 8.0) per gram wet weight of cells. To this was added 8 μl of PMSF stock solution (50 mM in anhydrous ethanol) and 80 μl of a lysozyme stock solution (10 mg/ml in water) per gram wet weight of cells. This mixture was stirred at room temperature for 20 min. While stirring, 4 mg per gram wet weight of cells of deoxycholate was added. The mixture was placed in a 37° C. water bath and stirred with a glass rod. When the mixture became viscous, 20 μl of DNase I stock solution (1 mg/ml) was added per gram weight wet cells. The mixture was then removed from the water bath and left at room temperature until the solution was no longer viscous. The mixture was then centrifuged at 15,000 rpm in a SS-34 rotor for 20 min at 4° C. The pellet was retained and thoroughly washed twice with TEN buffer. The pellet was then resuspended in freshly prepared TEN buffer containing 0.1 mM PMSF and 8M urea and sonicated in a bath sonicator (Heat Systems, Inc., Plainview, N.Y.). The protein concentration was determined using a BCA kit (Pierce, Rockville, Ill.) and the protein concentration adjusted to less than 10 mg/ml using the TEN-urea buffer. The sample was then diluted 1:1 with 10% (weight/vol) Zwittergent 3,14 (CalBiochem, La Jolla, Calif.), sonicated, and loaded onto a Sephacryl S-300 molecular sieve column. The Sephacryl S-300 column (2.5 cm×200 cm) had previously equilibrated with 100 mM Tris HCl, 200 mM NaCl, 10 mM EDTA, 0.05% Zwittergent 3,14, and 0.02% azide, pH 8.0. The column flow rate was' adjusted to 8 ml/hr and 10 ml fractions were collected. The OD₂₈₀ of each fraction was measured and SDS-PAGE analysis performed on protein containing fractions.

Inhibition ELISA Assays: Microtiter plates (Nunc-Immuno Plate IIF, Nunc, Inc., Naperville, Ill.) were sensitized by adding 0.1 ml per well of porB (2 μg/ml) purified from the wild type strain 8765, in 0.1M carbonate buffer, pH 9.6 with 0.02% azide. The plates were incubated overnight at room temperature. The plates were washed five times with 0.9% NaCl, 0.05% Brij 35, 10 mM sodium acetate pH 7.0, 0.02% azide. Human immune sera raised against the Type 15 Class 3 PorB protein was obtained from Dr. Phillip O. Livingston, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, N.Y. The human immune sera was diluted in PBS with 0.5% Brij 35 and added to the plate and incubated for 2 hr at room temperature. The plates were again washed as before and the secondary antibody, alkaline phosphatase conjugated goat anti-human IgG (Tago Inc., Burlingame, Calif.), was diluted in PBS-Brij, added to the plates and incubated for 1 hr at room temperature. The plates were washed as before and p-nitrophenyl phosphate (Sigma Phosphatase Substrate 104) (1 mg/ml) in 0.1 diethanolamine, 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.1 mM ZnCl₂, 0.02% azide, pH 9.8, was added. The plates were incubated at 37° C. for 1 h and the absorbance at 405 nm determined using an Elida-5 microtiter plate reader (Physica, New York, N.Y.). Control wells lacked either the primary and/or secondary antibody. This was done to obtain a titer for each human serum which would give a half-maximal reading in the ELISA assay. This titer for each human serum would be used in the inhibition ELISA. The ELISA microtiter plate would be sensitized with purified wild type PorB protein and washed as before. In a separate V-96 polypropylene microtiter plate (Nunc, Inc.), varying amounts of either purified wild type PorB protein or the purified recombinant PorB protein were added in a total volume of 75 μl. The human sera were diluted in PBS-Brij solution to twice their half maximal titer and 75 μl added to each of the wells containing the PorB or recombinant PorB proteins. This plate was incubated for 2 hr at room temperature and centrifuged in a Sorvall RT6000 refrigerated centrifuge, equipped with microtiter plate carriers (Wilmington, Del.) at 3000 rpm for 10 min. Avoiding the V-bottom, 100 μl from each well was removed and transferred to the sensitized and washed ELISA microtiter plate. The ELISA plates are incubated for an additional 2 hr, washed, and the conjugated second antibody added as before. The plate is then processed and read as described. The percentage of inhibition is then processed and read as described. The percentage of inhibition is calculated as follows: ##EQU1##

Results

Polymerase Chain Reaction and Subcloning: A method to easily clone, genetically manipulate, and eventually obtain enough pure porin protein from any number of different neisserial porin genes for further antigenic and biophysical characterization has been developed. The first step toward this goal was cloning the porin gene from a Neisseria. Using a technique originally described by Feavers, et al. (Feavers, I. M., et al., Infect. Immun. 60:3620-3629 (1992)), the DNA sequence of the mature porin protein from a class 3, serotype 15 porin was amplified using the chromosome of meningococcal strain 8765 as a template for the PCR reaction. Appropriate endonuclease restriction sites had been synthesized onto the ends of the oligonucleotide primers, such that when cleaved, the amplified mature porin sequence could be directly ligated and cloned into the chosen expression plasmid. After 30 cycles, the PCR products shown in FIG. 2 were obtained. The major product migrated between 900 bp and 1000 bp which was in accord with the previous study (Feavers, I. M., et al., Infect. Immun. 60:3620-3629 (1992)). However, a higher molecular weight product was not seen, even though the PCR was conducted under low annealing stringencies (40° C.; 50 mM KCl).

To be able to produce large amounts of the cloned porin protein, the tightly controlled expression system of Studier, et al. (Studier and Moffatt, J. Mol. Biol. 189:113-130 (1986)) was employed, which is commercially available through Novagen Inc. The amplified PCR product was cloned into the BamHI-XhoI site of plasmid pET-17b. This strategy places the DNA sequence for the mature porin protein in frame directly behind the T7 promoter, the DNA sequence encoding for the 9 amino acid leader sequence and 11 amino acids of the mature φ10 protein. The Studier E. coli strain BL21 lysogenic for the DE3 lambda derivative (Studier and Moffatt, J. Mol. Biol. 189:113-130 (1986)) was selected as the expression host for the pET-17b plasmid containing the porin gene. But because it was thought that the OmpA protein, originating from the E. coli expression host, might tend to co-purify with the expressed meningococcal porin protein, a modification of this strain was made by PI transduction which eliminated the ompA gene from this strain. Thus, after restriction endonuclease digestion of both the PCR product and the pET-17b vector and ligation, the product was transformed into BL21(DE3)-ΔompA and transformants selected for ampicillin and tetracycline resistance. Of the numerous colonies observed on the selection plate, 10 were picked for further characterization. All ten expressed large amounts of a protein, which migrated at the approximate molecular weight of the PorB protein, when grown to log phase and induced with IPTG. The whole cell lysate of one such culture is shown in FIG. 3a. The western blot analysis with the 4D11 monoclonal antibody further suggested that the protein being expressed was the PorB protein (FIG. 3b). As opposed to other studies, when neisserial porins have been cloned and expressed in E. coli, the host bacterial cells showed no signs of any toxic or lethal effects even after the addition of the IPTG. The E. coli cells appeared viable and could be recultured at any time throughout the expression phase.

Nucleotide sequence analysis: The amount of PorB expressed in these experiments was significantly greater than that previously observed and there appeared to be no adverse effects of this expression on the host E. coli. To be certain that no PCR artifacts had been introduced into the meningococcal porin gene to allow for such high expression, the entire φ10 porin fusion was sequenced by double stranded primer extension from the plasmid. The results are shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. The nucleotide sequence was identical with another meningococcal serotype 15 PorB gene sequence previously reported by Heckels, et al. (Ward, M. J., et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 73:283-289 (1992)) with two exceptions which are shown. These two nucleotide differences each occur in the third position of the codon and would not alter the amino acid sequence of the expressed protein. Thus, from the nucleotide sequence, there did not appear to be any PCR artifact or mutation which might account for the high protein expression and lack of toxicity within the E. coli. Furthermore, this data would suggest that a true PorB protein was being produced.

Purification of the expressed porB gene product: The PorB protein expressed in the E. coli was insoluble in TEN buffer which suggested that when expressed, the PorB protein formed into inclusion bodies. However, washing of the insoluble PorB protein with TEN buffer removed most of the contaminating E. coli proteins. The PorB protein could then be solubilized in freshly prepared 8M urea and diluted into the Zwittergent 3,14 detergent. The final purification was accomplished, using a Sephacryl S-300 molecular sieve column which not only removed the urea but also the remaining contaminating proteins. The majority of the PorB protein eluted from the column having the apparent molecular weight of trimers much like the wild type PorB. The comparative elution patterns of both the wild type and the PorB expressed in the E. coli are shown in FIG. 5. It is important to note that when the PorB protein concentration in the 8M urea was in excess of 10 mg/ml prior to dilution into the Zwittergent detergent, the relative amounts of PorB protein found as trimers decreased and appeared as aggregates eluting at the void volume. However, at protein concentrations below 10 mg/ml in the urea buffer, the majority of the PorB eluted in the exact same fraction as did the wild type PorB. It was also determined using a T7-Tag monoclonal antibody and western blot analysis that the 11 amino acids of the mature T7 capsid protein were retained as the amino terminus. The total yield of the meningococcal porin protein from one liter of E. coli was approximately 50 mg.

Inhibition ELISA Assays. In order to determine if the purified trimeric recombinant PorB had a similar antigenic conformation as compared to the PorB produced in the wild type meningococcal strain 8765, the sera from six patients which had been vaccinated with the wild type meningococcal Type 15 PorB protein were used in inhibition ELISA assays. In the inhibition assay, antibodies reactive to the native PorB were competitively inhibited with various amounts of either the purified recombinant PorB or the homologous purified wild type PorB. The results of the inhibition with the homologous purified PorB of each of the six human sera and the mean inhibition of these sera are shown in FIG. 6. The corresponding inhibition of these sera with the purified recombinant PorB is seen in FIG. 7. A comparison of the mean inhibition from FIGS. 6 and 7 are plotted in FIG. 8. These data would suggest that the antibodies contained in the sera of these six patients found similar epitopes on both the homologous purified wild type PorB and the purified recombinant PorB. This gave further evidence that the recombinant PorB had regained most if not all of the native conformation found in the wild type PorB.

Example 2 Cloning of the Class 2 Porin from Group B Neisseria Meningitidis strain BNCV M986

Genomic DNA was isolated from approximately 0.5 g of Group B Neisseria meningitidis strain BNCV M986 (serotype 2a) using previously described methods (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed., Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (1989)). This DNA then served as the template for two class 2 porin specific oligonucleotides in a standard PCR reaction. These oligonucleotides were designed to be complementary to the 5' and 3' flanking regions of the class 2 porin and to contain EcoRI restriction sites to facilitate the cloning of the fragment. The sequences of the oligonucleotides were as follows: (SEQ ID NO. 16)

5' AGC GGC TTG GAA TTC CCG GCT GGC TTA AAT TTC 3' (SEQ ID NO. 17) and

5' CAA ACG AAT GAA TTC AAA TAA AAA AGC CTG 3'.

The polymerase chain reaction was then utilized to obtain the class 2 porin. The reaction conditions were as follows: BNCV M986 genomic DNA 200 ng, the two oligonucleotide primers described above at 1 μM of each, 200 μM of each dNTP, PCR reaction buffer (10 mM Tris HCl, 50 mM KCl, pH 8.3), 1.5 mM MgCl₂, and 2.5 units of Taq polymerase, made up to 100 μl with distilled H₂ O. This reaction mixture was then subjected to 25 cycles of 95° C. for 1 min, 50° C. for 2 min and 72° C. for 1.5 min. At the end of the cycling period, the reaction mixture was loaded on a 1% agarose gel and the material was electrophoresed for 2 h after which the band at 1.3 kb was removed and the DNA recovered using the Gene Clean kit (Bio 101). This DNA was then digested with EcoRI, repurified and ligated to EcoRI digested pUC19 using T₄ DNA ligase. The ligation mixture was used to transform competent E. coli DH5α. Recombinant plasmids were selected and sequenced. The insert was found to have a DNA sequence consistent with that of a class 2 porin. See, Murakami, K. et al., Infect. Immun. 57:2318-2323 (1989).

The plasmid pET-17b (Novagen) was used to express the class 2 porin. As described below, two plasmids were constructed that yielded two different proteins. One plasmid was designed to produce a mature class 2 porin while the other was designed to yield a class 2 porin fused to 20 amino acids from the T7 gene φ10 capsid protein.

Construction of the mature class 2 porin

The mature class 2 porin was constructed by amplifying the pUC 19-class 2 porin construct using the oligonucleotides (SEQ ID NO.18) 5' CCT GTT GCA GCA CAT ATG GAC GTT ACC TTG TAC GGT ACA ATT AAA GC 3' and (SEQ ID NO.19) 5' CGA CAG GCT TTT TCT CGA GAC CAA TCT TTT CAG 3'. This strategy allowed the cloning of the amplified class 2 porin into the Ndel and Xhol sites of the plasmid pET-17b thus producing a mature class 2 porin. Standard PCR was conducted using the pUC19-class 2 as the template and the two oligonucleotides described above. This PCR reaction yielded a 1.1 kb product when analyzed on a 1.0% agarose gel. The DNA obtained from the PCR reaction was gel purified and digested with the restriction enzymes Ndel and Xhol. The 1.1 kb DNA produced was again gel purified and ligated to Ndel and Xhol digested pET-17b using T₄ DNA ligase. This ligation mixture was then used to transform competent E. coli DH5α. Colonies that contained the 1.1 kb insert were chosen for further analysis. The DNA from the DH5α clones was analyzed by restriction mapping and the cloning junctions of the chosen plasmids were sequenced. After this analysis, the DNA obtained from the DH5α clones was used to transform E. coli BL21(DE3)-ΔompA. The transformants were selected to LB-agar containing 100 μg/ml of carbenicillin. Several transformants were screened for their ability to make the class 2 porin protein. This was done by growing the clones in LB liquid medium containing 100 μg/ml of carbenicillin and 0.4% glucose at 30° C. to OD₆₀₀ =0.6 then inducing the cultures with IPTG (0.4 mM). The cells were then disrupted and the cell extract was analyzed by SDS-PAGE.

Construction of the fusion class 2 porin

The fusion class 2 porin was constructed by amplifying the pUC 19-class 2 porin construct using the oligonucleotides (SEQ ID NO. 20) 5' CCT GTT GCA GCG GAT CCA GAC GTT ACC TTG TAC GGT ACA ATT AAA GC 3' and (SEQ ID NO. 21) 5' CGA CAG GCT TTT TCT CGA GAC CAA TCT TTT CAG 3'. This strategy allowed the cloning of the amplified class 2 porin into the BamHI and XhoI sites of the plasmid pET-17b thus producing a fusion class 2 porin containing an additional 22 amino acids at the N-terminus derived from the T7 φ10 capsid protein contained in the plasmid. Standard PCR was conducted using the pUC19-class 2 as the template and the two oligonucleotides described above. The PCR reaction yielded a 1.1 kb product when analyzed on a 1.0% agarose gel. The DNA obtained from the PCR reaction was gel purified and digested with the reaction enzymes BamHI and XhoI. The 1.1 kb product produced was again gel purified and ligated to BamHI and XhoI digested pET-17b using T₄ DNA ligase. This ligation mixture was then used to transform competent E. coli DH5α. Colonies that contained the 1.1 kb insert were chosen for further analysis. The DNA from the DH5α clones was analyzed by restriction enzyme mapping and the cloning junctions of the chosen plasmids were sequenced. After this analysis, the DNA obtained from the DH5α clones was used to transform E. coli BL21(DE3)-ΔompA. The transformants were selected on LB-agar containing 100 μg/ml of carbenicillin. Several transformants were screened for their ability to make the class 2 porin protein. This was done by growing the clones in LB liquid medium containing 100 μg/ml of carbenicillin and 0.4% glucose at 30° C. to OD₆₀₀ =0.6 then inducing the cultures with IPTG (0.4 mM). The cells were then disrupted and the cell extract was analyzed by SDS-PAGE.

Example 3 Cloning and Expression of the Mature Class 3 Porin from Group B Neisseria meningitidis Strain 8765 in E. coli

Genomic DNA was isolated from approximately 0.5 g of Group B Neisseria meningitidis strain 8765 using the method described above (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed., Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (1989)). This DNA then served as the template for two class 3 porin specific oligonucleotides in a standard PCR reaction.

The mature class 3 porin was constructed by amplifying the genomic DNA from 8765 using the oligonucleotides: (SEQ ID NO. 22) 5' GTT GCA GCA CAT ATG GAC GTT ACC CTG TAC GGC ACC 3' (SEQ ID NO. 23) and 5' GGG GGG ATG GAT CCA GAT TAG AAT TTG TGG CGC AGA CCG ACA CC 3'. This strategy allowed the cloning of the amplified class 3 porin into the NdeI and BamH sites of the plasmid pET-24a(+), thus producing a mature class 3 porin. Standard PCR was conducted using the genomic DNA isolated from 8765 as the template and the two oligonucleotides described above.

The reaction conditions were as follows: 8765 genomic DNA 200 ng, the two oligonucleotide primers described above at 1 μM of each, 200 μM of each dNTP, PCR reaction buffer (10 mM Tris HCl, 50 mM KCl, pH 8.3), 1.5 mM MgCl₂, and 2.5 units of Taq polymerase, and made up to 100 μl with distilled water. This reaction mixture was then subjected to 25 cycles of 95° C. for 1 min, 50° C. for 2 min and 72° C. for 1.5 min.

This PCR reaction yielded about 930 bp of product, as analyzed on a 1% agarose gel. The DNA obtained from the PCR reaction was gel purified and digested with the restriction enzymes NdeI and BamHI. The 930 bp product was again gel purified and ligated to NdeI and BamHI digested pET-24a(+) using T4 ligase. This ligation mixture was then used to transform competent E. coli DH5α. Colonies that contained the 930 bp insert were chosen for further analysis. The DNA from the E. coli DH5α clones was analyzed by restriction enzyme mapping and cloning junctions of the chosen plasmids were sequenced. After this analysis, the DNA obtained from the E. coli DH5α clones was used to transform E. coli BL21(DE3)-ΔompA. The transformants were selected on LB-agar containing 50 μg/ml of kanamycin. Several transformants were screened for their ability to make the class 3 porin protein. This was done by growing the clones in LB liquid medium containing 50 μg/ml of kanamycin and 0.4% of glucose at 30° C. to OD₆₀₀ =0.6 then inducing the cultures with IPTG (1 mM). The cells were then disrupted and the cell extract was analyzed by SDS-PAGE.

Example 4 Purification and Refolding of Recombinant Class 2 Porin

E coli strain BL21(DE3)ΔompA pNV-5! is grown to mid-log phase (OD=0.6 at 600 nm) in Luria broth at 30° C. IPTG is then added (0.4 mM final) and the cells grown an additional two hours at 37° C. The cells were then harvested and washed with several volumes of TEN buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, 0.2M NaCl, 10 mM EDTA, pH=8.0) and the cell paste stored frozen at -75° C.

For purification preweighed cells are thawed and suspended in TEN buffer at a 1:15 ratio (g/v). The suspension is passed through a Stansted cell disrupter (Stansted fluid power Ltd.) twice at 8,000 psi. The resultant solution is then centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 20 min and the supernatant discarded. The pellet is then twice suspended in TEN buffer containing 0.5% deoxycholate and the supernatants discarded. The pellet is then suspended in TEN buffer containing 8M deionized urea (electrophoresis grade) and 0.1 mM PMSF (3 g/10 ml). The suspension is sonicated for 10 min or until an even suspension is achieved. 10 ml of a 10% aqueous solution of 3,14-zwittergen (Calbiochem) is added and the solution thoroughly mixed. The solution is again sonicated for 10 min. Any residual insoluble material is removed by centrifugation. The protein concentration is determined and the protein concentration adjusted to 2 mg/ml with 8M urea-10% zwittergen buffer (1:1 ratio).

This mixture is then applied to a 2.6×100 cm column of Sephacryl S-300 equilibrated in 100 mM Tris-HCl, 1M NaCl, 10 mM EDTA, 20 mM CaCl₂, 0.05% 3,14-zwittergen, 0.02% sodium azide, pH=8.0. The flow rate is maintained at 1 ml/min. Fractions of 10 ml are collected. The porin refolds into trimer during the gel filtration. The OD=280 nm of each fraction is measured and those fractions containing protein are subjected to SDS gel electrophoresis assay for porin. Those fractions containing porin are pooled. The pooled fractions are either dialyzed or diluted 1:10 in 50 mM Tris HCl pH=8.0, 0.05% 3,14-zwittergen, 5 mM EDTA, 0.1M NaCl. The resulting solution is then applied to a 2.6×10 cm Q sepharose high performance column (Pharmacia) equilibrated in the same buffer. The porin is eluted with a linear gradient of 0.1 to 1M NaCl.

Example 5 Purification and Refolding of Recombinant Class 3 Porin

E coli strain BL21 (DE3) ΔompA containing the porB-pET-17b plasmid is grown to mid-log phase (OD=0.6 at 600 nm) in Luria broth at 30° C. IPTG is then added (0.4 mM final) and the cells grown an additional two hours at 37° C. The cells were then harvested and washed with several volumes of TEN buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, 0.2M NaCl, 10 mM EDTA, pH=8.0) and the cell paste stored frozen at -75° C.

For purification about 3 grams of cells are thawed and suspended in 9 ml of TEN buffer. Lysozyme is added (Sigma, 0.25 mg/ml) deoxycholate (Sigma, 1.3 mg/ml) plus PMSF (Sigma, μg/ml) and the mixture gently shaken for one hour at room temperature. During this time, the cells lyse and the released DNA causes the solution to become very viscous. DNase is then added (Sigma, 2 μg/ml) and the solution again mixed for one hour at room temperature. The mixture is then centrifuged at 15K rpm in a S-600 rotor for 30 minutes and the supernatant discarded. The pellet is then twice suspended in 10 ml of TEN buffer and the supernatants discarded. The pellet is then suspended in 10 ml of 8M urea (Pierce) in TEN buffer. The mixture is gently stirred to break up any clumps. The suspension is sonicated for 20 minutes or until an even suspension is achieved. 10 ml of a 10% aqueous solution of 3,14-zwittergen (Calbiochem) is added and the solution thoroughly mixed. The solution is again sonicated for 10 minutes. Any residual insoluble material is removed by centrifugation. The protein concentration is determined and the protein concentration adjusted to 2 mg/ml with 8M urea-10% zwittergen buffer (1:1 ratio).

This mixture is then applied to a 180×2.5 cm column of Sephacryl S-300 (Pharmacia) equilibrated in 100 mM Tris-HCl, 1M NaCl, 10 mM EDTA, 20 mM CaCl₂, 0.05% 3,14-zwittergen, pH=8.0. The flow rate is maintained at 1 ml/min. Fractions of 10 ml are collected. The porin refolds into trimer during the gel filtration. The OD₂₈₀ nm of each fraction is measured and those fractions containing protein are subjected to SDS gel electrophoresis assay for porin. Those fractions containing porin are pooled.

The pooled fractions are dialyzed and concentrated 4-6 fold using Amicon concentrator with a PM 10 membrane against buffer containing 100 mM Tris-HCl, 0.1M NaCl, 10 mM EDTA, 0.05% 3,14-zwittergen, pH=8.0. Alternatively, the pooled fractions are precipitated with 80% ethanol and resuspended with the above-mentioned buffer. Six to 10 mg of the material is then applied to a monoQ 10/10 column (Pharmacia) equilibrated in the same buffer. The porin is eluted from a shallow 0.1 to 0.6M NaCl gradient with a 1.2% increase per min over a 50 min period. The Flow rate is 1 ml/min. The peak containing porin is collected and dialyzed against TEN buffer and 0.05% 3,14-zwittergen. The porin may be purified further by another S-300 chromatography.

Example 6 Purification and Chemical Modification of the Polysaccharides

The capsular polysaccharide from both group B Neisseria meningitidis and E. coli K1 consists of α(2→8) polysialic acid (commonly referred to as GBMP or K1 polysaccharide). High molecular weight polysaccharide isolated from growth medium by precipitation (see, Frasch, C. E., "Production and Control of Neisseria meningitidis Vaccines" in Bacterial Vaccines, Alan R. Liss, Inc., pages 123-145 (1990)) was purified and chemically modified before being coupled to the porin protein. The high molecular weight polysaccharide was partially depolymerized with 0.1M acetic acid (7 mg polysaccharide/ml), pH=6.0 to 6.5 (70° C., 3 hrs) to provide polysaccharide having an average molecular weight of 12,000-16,000. After purification by gel filtration column chromatography (Superdex 200 prep grade, Pharmacia), the polysaccharide was N-deacetylated in the presence of NaBH₄ and then N-propionylated as described by Jennings et al. (J. Immunol. 137:1808 (1986)) to afford N--Pr GBMP. Treatment with NaIO₄ followed by gel filtration column purification gave the oxidized N--Pr GBMP having an average molecular weight of 12,000 daltons.

Example 7 Coupling of Oxidized N--Pr GBMP to the Group B Meningococcal Class 3 Porin Protein (PP)

The oxidized N--Pr GBMP (9.5 mg) was added to purified class 3 porin protein (3.4 mg) dissolved in 0.21 ml of 0.2M phosphate buffer pH 7.5 which also contained 10% octyl glucoside. After the polysaccharide was dissolved, sodium cyanoborohydride (7 mg) was added and the reaction solution was incubated at 37° C. for 4 days. The reaction mixture was diluted with 0.15M sodium chloride solution containing 0.01% thimerosal and separated by gel filtration column chromatography using Superdex 200 PG. The conjugate (N--Pr GBMP-PP) was obtained as single peak eluting near the void volume. Analysis of the conjugate solution for sialic acid and protein showed that the conjugate consists of 43% polysaccharide by weight. The porin protein was recovered in the conjugate in 44% yield and the polysaccharide in 12% yield. The protein recoveries in different experiments generally occur in the 50-80% range and those of the polysaccharide in the 9-13% range.

Example 8 Immunogenicity Studies

The immunogenicities of the N--Pr GBMP-PP conjugate and those of the N--Pr GBMP-Tetanus toxoid (N--Pr GBMP-TT) conjugate which was prepared by a similar coupling procedure were assayed in 4-6 week old outbread Swiss Webster CFW female mice. The polysaccharide (2 μg)-conjugate was administered on days 1, 14 and 28, and the sera collected on day 38. The conjugates were administered as saline solutions, adsorbed on aluminum hydroxide, or admixed with stearyl tyrosine. The sera ELISA titers against the polysaccharide antigen and bactericidal titers against N. meningitidis group B are summarized in Table 1.

Having now fully described this invention, it will be understood to those of ordinary skill in the art that the same can be performed within a wide and equivalent range of conditions, formulations and other perimeters without affecting the scope of the invention or any embodiment thereof. All patents and publications cited herein are fully incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         ELISA and Bactericidal Titers of Group B Meningococcal                         Conjugate Vaccines (N-Pr GBMP-Protein)                                                                          Bactericidal                                  Vaccine      Adjuvant  ELISA Titer                                                                              Titer                                         ______________________________________                                         N-Pr GBMP-TT Saline    5,400     0                                                          Al(OH).sub.3                                                                             13,000    0                                                          ST.sup.1  17,000    0                                                          CFA.sup.2 40,000    800                                           N-Pr GBMP-PP Saline    20,000    500                                                        Saline    22,000    150                                                        Saline    39,000    960                                                        Al(OH).sub.3                                                                             93,000    200                                                        Al(OH).sub.3                                                                             166,000   >3,200                                                     Al(OH).sub.3                                                                             130,000   1,200                                                      ST        53,000    1,000                                                      ST        29,000    1,700                                                      ST        72,000    1,500                                         N-Pr GBMP    Saline    >100      0                                                          Al(OH).sub.3                                                                             >100      0                                                          ST        >100      0                                             PP           Saline    >100      0                                                          Al(OH).sub.3                                                                             >100      0                                                          ST        660       0                                             ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 ST = Stearyl tyrosine.                                                  .sup.2 CFA = Complete Freund's Adjuvant                                  

    __________________________________________________________________________     SEQUENCE LISTING                                                               (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:                                                       (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 23                                                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 930 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: Not Relevant                                                 (D) TOPOLOGY: Not Relevant                                                     (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 1..930                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1:                                        TTGTACGGTACAATTAAAGCAGGCGTAGAAACTTCCCGCTCTGTATTT48                             LeuTyrGlyThrIleLysAlaGlyValGluThrSerArgSerValPhe                               151015                                                                         CACCAGAACGGCCAAGTTACTGAAGTTACAACCGCTACCGGCATCGTT96                             HisGlnAsnGlyGlnValThrGluValThrThrAlaThrGlyIleVal                               202530                                                                         GATTTGGGTTCGAAAATCGGCTTCAAAGGCCAAGAAGACCTCGGTAAC144                            AspLeuGlySerLysIleGlyPheLysGlyGlnGluAspLeuGlyAsn                               354045                                                                         GGCCTGAAAGCCATTTGGCAGGTTGAGCAAAAAGCATCTATCGCCGGT192                            GlyLeuLysAlaIleTrpGlnValGluGlnLysAlaSerIleAlaGly                               505560                                                                         ACTGACTCCGGTTGGGGCAACCGCCAATCCTTCATCGGCTTGAAAGGC240                            ThrAspSerGlyTrpGlyAsnArgGlnSerPheIleGlyLeuLysGly                               65707580                                                                       GGCTTCGGTAAATTGCGCGTCGGTCGTTTGAACAGCGTCCTGAAAGAC288                            GlyPheGlyLysLeuArgValGlyArgLeuAsnSerValLeuLysAsp                               859095                                                                         ACCGGCGACATCAATCCTTGGGATAGCAAAAGCGACTATTTGGGTGTA336                            ThrGlyAspIleAsnProTrpAspSerLysSerAspTyrLeuGlyVal                               100105110                                                                      AACAAAATTGCCGAACCCGAGGCACGCCTCATTTCCGTACGCTACGAT384                            AsnLysIleAlaGluProGluAlaArgLeuIleSerValArgTyrAsp                               115120125                                                                      TCTCCCGAATTTGCCGGCCTCAGCGGCAGCGTACAATACGCGCTTAAC432                            SerProGluPheAlaGlyLeuSerGlySerValGlnTyrAlaLeuAsn                               130135140                                                                      GACAATGCAGGCAGACATAACAGCGAATCTTACCACGCCGGCTTCAAC480                            AspAsnAlaGlyArgHisAsnSerGluSerTyrHisAlaGlyPheAsn                               145150155160                                                                   TACAAAAACGGTGGCTTCTTCGTGCAATATGGCGGTGCCTATAAAAGA528                            TyrLysAsnGlyGlyPhePheValGlnTyrGlyGlyAlaTyrLysArg                               165170175                                                                      CATCATCAAGTGCAAGAGGGCTTGAATATTGAGAAATACCAGATTCAC576                            HisHisGlnValGlnGluGlyLeuAsnIleGluLysTyrGlnIleHis                               180185190                                                                      CGTTTGGTCAGCGGTTACGACAATGATGCCCTGTACGCTTCCGTAGCC624                            ArgLeuValSerGlyTyrAspAsnAspAlaLeuTyrAlaSerValAla                               195200205                                                                      GTACAGCAACAAGACGCGAAACTGACTGATGCTTCCAATTCGCACAAC672                            ValGlnGlnGlnAspAlaLysLeuThrAspAlaSerAsnSerHisAsn                               210215220                                                                      TCTCAAACCGAAGTTGCCGCTACCTTGGCATACCGCTTCGGCAACGTA720                            SerGlnThrGluValAlaAlaThrLeuAlaTyrArgPheGlyAsnVal                               225230235240                                                                   ACGCCCCGAGTTTCTTACGCCCACGGCTTCAAAGGTTTGGTTGATGAT768                            ThrProArgValSerTyrAlaHisGlyPheLysGlyLeuValAspAsp                               245250255                                                                      GCAGACATAGGCAACGAATACGACCAAGTGGTTGTCGGTGCGGAATAC816                            AlaAspIleGlyAsnGluTyrAspGlnValValValGlyAlaGluTyr                               260265270                                                                      GACTTCTCCAAACGCACTTCTGCCTTGGTTTCTGCCGGTTGGTTGCAA864                            AspPheSerLysArgThrSerAlaLeuValSerAlaGlyTrpLeuGln                               275280285                                                                      GAAGGCAAAGGCGAAAACAAATTCGTAGCGACTGCCGGCGGTGTTGGT912                            GluGlyLysGlyGluAsnLysPheValAlaThrAlaGlyGlyValGly                               290295300                                                                      CTGCGTCACAAATTCTAA930                                                          LeuArgHisLysPhe                                                                305                                                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 309 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:                                        LeuTyrGlyThrIleLysAlaGlyValGluThrSerArgSerValPhe                               151015                                                                         HisGlnAsnGlyGlnValThrGluValThrThrAlaThrGlyIleVal                               202530                                                                         AspLeuGlySerLysIleGlyPheLysGlyGlnGluAspLeuGlyAsn                               354045                                                                         GlyLeuLysAlaIleTrpGlnValGluGlnLysAlaSerIleAlaGly                               505560                                                                         ThrAspSerGlyTrpGlyAsnArgGlnSerPheIleGlyLeuLysGly                               65707580                                                                       GlyPheGlyLysLeuArgValGlyArgLeuAsnSerValLeuLysAsp                               859095                                                                         ThrGlyAspIleAsnProTrpAspSerLysSerAspTyrLeuGlyVal                               100105110                                                                      AsnLysIleAlaGluProGluAlaArgLeuIleSerValArgTyrAsp                               115120125                                                                      SerProGluPheAlaGlyLeuSerGlySerValGlnTyrAlaLeuAsn                               130135140                                                                      AspAsnAlaGlyArgHisAsnSerGluSerTyrHisAlaGlyPheAsn                               145150155160                                                                   TyrLysAsnGlyGlyPhePheValGlnTyrGlyGlyAlaTyrLysArg                               165170175                                                                      HisHisGlnValGlnGluGlyLeuAsnIleGluLysTyrGlnIleHis                               180185190                                                                      ArgLeuValSerGlyTyrAspAsnAspAlaLeuTyrAlaSerValAla                               195200205                                                                      ValGlnGlnGlnAspAlaLysLeuThrAspAlaSerAsnSerHisAsn                               210215220                                                                      SerGlnThrGluValAlaAlaThrLeuAlaTyrArgPheGlyAsnVal                               225230235240                                                                   ThrProArgValSerTyrAlaHisGlyPheLysGlyLeuValAspAsp                               245250255                                                                      AlaAspIleGlyAsnGluTyrAspGlnValValValGlyAlaGluTyr                               260265270                                                                      AspPheSerLysArgThrSerAlaLeuValSerAlaGlyTrpLeuGln                               275280285                                                                      GluGlyLysGlyGluAsnLysPheValAlaThrAlaGlyGlyValGly                               290295300                                                                      LeuArgHisLysPhe                                                                305                                                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 1029 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: Not Relevant                                                 (D) TOPOLOGY: Not Relevant                                                     (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 1..1029                                                          (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:                                        ATGGACGTTACCTTGTACGGTACAATTAAAGCAGGCGTAGAAGTTTCT48                             MetAspValThrLeuTyrGlyThrIleLysAlaGlyValGluValSer                               151015                                                                         CGCGTAAAAGATGCTGGTACATATAAAGCTCAAGGCGGAAAATCTAAA96                             ArgValLysAspAlaGlyThrTyrLysAlaGlnGlyGlyLysSerLys                               202530                                                                         ACTGCAACCCAAATTGCCGACTTCGGTTCTAAAATCGGTTTCAAAGGT144                            ThrAlaThrGlnIleAlaAspPheGlySerLysIleGlyPheLysGly                               354045                                                                         CAAGAAGACCTCGGCAACGGCATGAAAGCCATTTGGCAGTTGGAACAA192                            GlnGluAspLeuGlyAsnGlyMetLysAlaIleTrpGlnLeuGluGln                               505560                                                                         AAAGCCTCCATCGCCGGCACTAACAGCGGCTGGGGTAACCGCCAGTCC240                            LysAlaSerIleAlaGlyThrAsnSerGlyTrpGlyAsnArgGlnSer                               65707580                                                                       TTCATCGGCTTGAAAGGCGGCTTCGGTACCGTCCGCGCCGGTAATCTG288                            PheIleGlyLeuLysGlyGlyPheGlyThrValArgAlaGlyAsnLeu                               859095                                                                         AACACCGTATTGAAAGACAGCGGCGACAACGTCAATGCATGGGAATCT336                            AsnThrValLeuLysAspSerGlyAspAsnValAsnAlaTrpGluSer                               100105110                                                                      GGTTCTAACACCGAAGATGTACTGGGACTGGGTACTATCGGTCGTGTA384                            GlySerAsnThrGluAspValLeuGlyLeuGlyThrIleGlyArgVal                               115120125                                                                      GAAAGCCGTGAAATCTCCGTACGCTACGACTCTCCCGTATTTGCAGGC432                            GluSerArgGluIleSerValArgTyrAspSerProValPheAlaGly                               130135140                                                                      TTCAGCGGCAGCGTACAATACGTTCCGCGCGATAATGCGAATGATGTG480                            PheSerGlySerValGlnTyrValProArgAspAsnAlaAsnAspVal                               145150155160                                                                   GATAAATACAAACATACGAAGTCCAGCCGTGAGTCTTACCACGCCGGT528                            AspLysTyrLysHisThrLysSerSerArgGluSerTyrHisAlaGly                               165170175                                                                      CTGAAATACGAAAATGCCGGTTTCTTCGGTCAATACGCAGGTTCTTTT576                            LeuLysTyrGluAsnAlaGlyPhePheGlyGlnTyrAlaGlySerPhe                               180185190                                                                      GCCAAATATGCTGATTTGAACACTGATGCAGAACGTGTTGCAGTAAAT624                            AlaLysTyrAlaAspLeuAsnThrAspAlaGluArgValAlaValAsn                               195200205                                                                      ACTGCAAATGCCCATCCTGTTAAGGATTACCAAGTACACCGCGTAGTT672                            ThrAlaAsnAlaHisProValLysAspTyrGlnValHisArgValVal                               210215220                                                                      GCCGGTTACGATGCCAATGACCTGTACGTTTCTGTTGCCGGTCAGTAT720                            AlaGlyTyrAspAlaAsnAspLeuTyrValSerValAlaGlyGlnTyr                               225230235240                                                                   GAAGCTGCTAAAAACAACGAGGTTGGTTCTACCAAGGGTAAAAAACAC768                            GluAlaAlaLysAsnAsnGluValGlySerThrLysGlyLysLysHis                               245250255                                                                      GAGCAAACTCAAGTTGCCGCTACTGCCGCTTACCGTTTTGGCAACGTA816                            GluGlnThrGlnValAlaAlaThrAlaAlaTyrArgPheGlyAsnVal                               260265270                                                                      ACGCCTCGCGTTTCTTACGCCCACGGCTTCAAAGCTAAAGTGAATGGC864                            ThrProArgValSerTyrAlaHisGlyPheLysAlaLysValAsnGly                               275280285                                                                      GTGAAAGACGCAAATTACCAATACGACCAAGTTATCGTTGGTGCCGAC912                            ValLysAspAlaAsnTyrGlnTyrAspGlnValIleValGlyAlaAsp                               290295300                                                                      TACGACTTCTCCAAACGCACTTCCGCTCTGGTTTCTGCCGGTTGGTTG960                            TyrAspPheSerLysArgThrSerAlaLeuValSerAlaGlyTrpLeu                               305310315320                                                                   AAACAAGGTAAAGGCGCGGGAAAAGTCGAACAAACTGCCAGCATGGTT1008                           LysGlnGlyLysGlyAlaGlyLysValGluGlnThrAlaSerMetVal                               325330335                                                                      GGTCTGCGTCACAAATTCTAA1029                                                      GlyLeuArgHisLysPhe                                                             340                                                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:4:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 342 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:4:                                        MetAspValThrLeuTyrGlyThrIleLysAlaGlyValGluValSer                               151015                                                                         ArgValLysAspAlaGlyThrTyrLysAlaGlnGlyGlyLysSerLys                               202530                                                                         ThrAlaThrGlnIleAlaAspPheGlySerLysIleGlyPheLysGly                               354045                                                                         GlnGluAspLeuGlyAsnGlyMetLysAlaIleTrpGlnLeuGluGln                               505560                                                                         LysAlaSerIleAlaGlyThrAsnSerGlyTrpGlyAsnArgGlnSer                               65707580                                                                       PheIleGlyLeuLysGlyGlyPheGlyThrValArgAlaGlyAsnLeu                               859095                                                                         AsnThrValLeuLysAspSerGlyAspAsnValAsnAlaTrpGluSer                               100105110                                                                      GlySerAsnThrGluAspValLeuGlyLeuGlyThrIleGlyArgVal                               115120125                                                                      GluSerArgGluIleSerValArgTyrAspSerProValPheAlaGly                               130135140                                                                      PheSerGlySerValGlnTyrValProArgAspAsnAlaAsnAspVal                               145150155160                                                                   AspLysTyrLysHisThrLysSerSerArgGluSerTyrHisAlaGly                               165170175                                                                      LeuLysTyrGluAsnAlaGlyPhePheGlyGlnTyrAlaGlySerPhe                               180185190                                                                      AlaLysTyrAlaAspLeuAsnThrAspAlaGluArgValAlaValAsn                               195200205                                                                      ThrAlaAsnAlaHisProValLysAspTyrGlnValHisArgValVal                               210215220                                                                      AlaGlyTyrAspAlaAsnAspLeuTyrValSerValAlaGlyGlnTyr                               225230235240                                                                   GluAlaAlaLysAsnAsnGluValGlySerThrLysGlyLysLysHis                               245250255                                                                      GluGlnThrGlnValAlaAlaThrAlaAlaTyrArgPheGlyAsnVal                               260265270                                                                      ThrProArgValSerTyrAlaHisGlyPheLysAlaLysValAsnGly                               275280285                                                                      ValLysAspAlaAsnTyrGlnTyrAspGlnValIleValGlyAlaAsp                               290295300                                                                      TyrAspPheSerLysArgThrSerAlaLeuValSerAlaGlyTrpLeu                               305310315320                                                                   LysGlnGlyLysGlyAlaGlyLysValGluGlnThrAlaSerMetVal                               325330335                                                                      GlyLeuArgHisLysPhe                                                             340                                                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:5:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 1092 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: Not Relevant                                                 (D) TOPOLOGY: Not Relevant                                                     (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 1..1092                                                          (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:5:                                        ATGGCTAGCATGACTGGTGGACAGCAAATGGGTCGGGATTCAAGCTTG48                             MetAlaSerMetThrGlyGlyGlnGlnMetGlyArgAspSerSerLeu                               151015                                                                         GTACCGAGCTCGGATCCAGACGTTACCTTGTACGGTACAATTAAAGCA96                             ValProSerSerAspProAspValThrLeuTyrGlyThrIleLysAla                               202530                                                                         GGCGTAGAAGTTTCTCGCGTAAAAGATGCTGGTACATATAAAGCTCAA144                            GlyValGluValSerArgValLysAspAlaGlyThrTyrLysAlaGln                               354045                                                                         GGCGGAAAATCTAAAACTGCAACCCAAATTGCCGACTTCGGTTCTAAA192                            GlyGlyLysSerLysThrAlaThrGlnIleAlaAspPheGlySerLys                               505560                                                                         ATCGGTTTCAAAGGTCAAGAAGACCTCGGCAACGGCATGAAAGCCATT240                            IleGlyPheLysGlyGlnGluAspLeuGlyAsnGlyMetLysAlaIle                               65707580                                                                       TGGCAGTTGGAACAAAAAGCCTCCATCGCCGGCACTAACAGCGGCTGG288                            TrpGlnLeuGluGlnLysAlaSerIleAlaGlyThrAsnSerGlyTrp                               859095                                                                         GGTAACCGCCAGTCCTTCATCGGCTTGAAAGGCGGCTTCGGTACCGTC336                            GlyAsnArgGlnSerPheIleGlyLeuLysGlyGlyPheGlyThrVal                               100105110                                                                      CGCGCCGGTAATCTGAACACCGTATTGAAAGACAGCGGCGACAACGTC384                            ArgAlaGlyAsnLeuAsnThrValLeuLysAspSerGlyAspAsnVal                               115120125                                                                      AATGCATGGGAATCTGGTTCTAACACCGAAGATGTACTGGGACTGGGT432                            AsnAlaTrpGluSerGlySerAsnThrGluAspValLeuGlyLeuGly                               130135140                                                                      ACTATCGGTCGTGTAGAAAGCCGTGAAATCTCCGTACGCTACGACTCT480                            ThrIleGlyArgValGluSerArgGluIleSerValArgTyrAspSer                               145150155160                                                                   CCCGTATTTGCAGGCTTCAGCGGCAGCGTACAATACGTTCCGCGCGAT528                            ProValPheAlaGlyPheSerGlySerValGlnTyrValProArgAsp                               165170175                                                                      AATGCGAATGATGTGGATAAATACAAACATACGAAGTCCAGCCGTGAG576                            AsnAlaAsnAspValAspLysTyrLysHisThrLysSerSerArgGlu                               180185190                                                                      TCTTACCACGCCGGTCTGAAATACGAAAATGCCGGTTTCTTCGGTCAA624                            SerTyrHisAlaGlyLeuLysTyrGluAsnAlaGlyPhePheGlyGln                               195200205                                                                      TACGCAGGTTCTTTTGCCAAATATGCTGATTTGAACACTGATGCAGAA672                            TyrAlaGlySerPheAlaLysTyrAlaAspLeuAsnThrAspAlaGlu                               210215220                                                                      CGTGTTGCAGTAAATACTGCAAATGCCCATCCTGTTAAGGATTACCAA720                            ArgValAlaValAsnThrAlaAsnAlaHisProValLysAspTyrGln                               225230235240                                                                   GTACACCGCGTAGTTGCCGGTTACGATGCCAATGACCTGTACGTTTCT768                            ValHisArgValValAlaGlyTyrAspAlaAsnAspLeuTyrValSer                               245250255                                                                      GTTGCCGGTCAGTATGAAGCTGCTAAAAACAACGAGGTTGGTTCTACC816                            ValAlaGlyGlnTyrGluAlaAlaLysAsnAsnGluValGlySerThr                               260265270                                                                      AAGGGTAAAAAACACGAGCAAACTCAAGTTGCCGCTACTGCCGCTTAC864                            LysGlyLysLysHisGluGlnThrGlnValAlaAlaThrAlaAlaTyr                               275280285                                                                      CGTTTTGGCAACGTAACGCCTCGCGTTTCTTACGCCCACGGCTTCAAA912                            ArgPheGlyAsnValThrProArgValSerTyrAlaHisGlyPheLys                               290295300                                                                      GCTAAAGTGAATGGCGTGAAAGACGCAAATTACCAATACGACCAAGTT960                            AlaLysValAsnGlyValLysAspAlaAsnTyrGlnTyrAspGlnVal                               305310315320                                                                   ATCGTTGGTGCCGACTACGACTTCTCCAAACGCACTTCCGCTCTGGTT1008                           IleValGlyAlaAspTyrAspPheSerLysArgThrSerAlaLeuVal                               325330335                                                                      TCTGCCGGTTGGTTGAAACAAGGTAAAGGCGCGGGAAAAGTCGAACAA1056                           SerAlaGlyTrpLeuLysGlnGlyLysGlyAlaGlyLysValGluGln                               340345350                                                                      ACTGCCAGCATGGTTGGTCTGCGTCACAAATTCTAA1092                                       ThrAlaSerMetValGlyLeuArgHisLysPhe                                              355360                                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:6:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 363 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:6:                                        MetAlaSerMetThrGlyGlyGlnGlnMetGlyArgAspSerSerLeu                               151015                                                                         ValProSerSerAspProAspValThrLeuTyrGlyThrIleLysAla                               202530                                                                         GlyValGluValSerArgValLysAspAlaGlyThrTyrLysAlaGln                               354045                                                                         GlyGlyLysSerLysThrAlaThrGlnIleAlaAspPheGlySerLys                               505560                                                                         IleGlyPheLysGlyGlnGluAspLeuGlyAsnGlyMetLysAlaIle                               65707580                                                                       TrpGlnLeuGluGlnLysAlaSerIleAlaGlyThrAsnSerGlyTrp                               859095                                                                         GlyAsnArgGlnSerPheIleGlyLeuLysGlyGlyPheGlyThrVal                               100105110                                                                      ArgAlaGlyAsnLeuAsnThrValLeuLysAspSerGlyAspAsnVal                               115120125                                                                      AsnAlaTrpGluSerGlySerAsnThrGluAspValLeuGlyLeuGly                               130135140                                                                      ThrIleGlyArgValGluSerArgGluIleSerValArgTyrAspSer                               145150155160                                                                   ProValPheAlaGlyPheSerGlySerValGlnTyrValProArgAsp                               165170175                                                                      AsnAlaAsnAspValAspLysTyrLysHisThrLysSerSerArgGlu                               180185190                                                                      SerTyrHisAlaGlyLeuLysTyrGluAsnAlaGlyPhePheGlyGln                               195200205                                                                      TyrAlaGlySerPheAlaLysTyrAlaAspLeuAsnThrAspAlaGlu                               210215220                                                                      ArgValAlaValAsnThrAlaAsnAlaHisProValLysAspTyrGln                               225230235240                                                                   ValHisArgValValAlaGlyTyrAspAlaAsnAspLeuTyrValSer                               245250255                                                                      ValAlaGlyGlnTyrGluAlaAlaLysAsnAsnGluValGlySerThr                               260265270                                                                      LysGlyLysLysHisGluGlnThrGlnValAlaAlaThrAlaAlaTyr                               275280285                                                                      ArgPheGlyAsnValThrProArgValSerTyrAlaHisGlyPheLys                               290295300                                                                      AlaLysValAsnGlyValLysAspAlaAsnTyrGlnTyrAspGlnVal                               305310315320                                                                   IleValGlyAlaAspTyrAspPheSerLysArgThrSerAlaLeuVal                               325330335                                                                      SerAlaGlyTrpLeuLysGlnGlyLysGlyAlaGlyLysValGluGln                               340345350                                                                      ThrAlaSerMetValGlyLeuArgHisLysPhe                                              355360                                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:7:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 187 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: Not Relevant                                                 (D) TOPOLOGY: Not Relevant                                                     (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 101..187                                                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:7:                                        AGATCTCGATCCCGCGAAATTAATACGACTCACTATAGGGAGACCACAACGGTTTCCCTC60                 TAGAAATAATTTTGTTTAACTTAAAGAAGGAGATATACATATGGCTAGCATGACT115                     MetAlaSerMetThr                                                                15                                                                             GGTGGACAGCAAATGGGTCGGGATTCAAGCTTGGTACCGAGCTCGGAT163                            GlyGlyGlnGlnMetGlyArgAspSerSerLeuValProSerSerAsp                               101520                                                                         CTGCAGGTTACCTTGTACGGTACA187                                                    LeuGlnValThrLeuTyrGlyThr                                                       25                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:8:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 29 amino acids                                                     (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:8:                                        MetAlaSerMetThrGlyGlyGlnGlnMetGlyArgAspSerSerLeu                               151015                                                                         ValProSerSerAspLeuGlnValThrLeuTyrGlyThr                                        2025                                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:9:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 54 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: both                                                         (D) TOPOLOGY: both                                                             (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 1..24                                                            (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:9:                                        GTTGGTCTGCGTCACAAATTCTAACTCGAGCAGATCCGGCTGCTAACAAAG51                          ValGlyLeuArgHisLysPhe                                                          15                                                                             CCC54                                                                          (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:10:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 7 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:10:                                       ValGlyLeuArgHisLysPhe                                                          15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:11:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 47 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:11:                                       GGGGTAGATCTGCAGGTTACCTTGTACGGTACAATTAAAGCAGGCGT47                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:12:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 42 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:12:                                       GGGGGGGTGACCCTCGAGTTAGAATTTGTGACGCAGACCAAC42                                   (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:13:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:13:                                       TCAAGCTTGGTACCGAGCTC20                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:14:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:14:                                       TTTGTTAGCAGCCGGATCTG20                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:15:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:15:                                       CTCAAGACCCGTTTAGAGGCC21                                                        (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:16:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 33 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:16:                                       AGCGGCTTGGAATTCCCGGCTGGCTTAAATTTC33                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:17:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 30 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:17:                                       CAAACGAATGAATTCAAATAAAAAAGCCTG30                                               (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:18:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 47 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:18:                                       CCTGTTGCAGCACATATGGACGTTACCTTGTACGGTACAATTAAAGC47                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:19:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 33 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:19:                                       CGACAGGCTTTTTCTCGAGACCAATCTTTTCAG33                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:20:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 47 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:20:                                       CCTGTTGCAGCGGATCCAGACGTTACCTTGTACGGTACAATTAAAGC47                              (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:21:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 33 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:21:                                       CGACAGGCTTTTTCTCGAGACCAATCTTTTCAG33                                            (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:22:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 36 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:22:                                       GTTGCAGCACATATGGACGTTACCCTGTACGGCACC36                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:23:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 44 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:23:                                       GGGGGGATGGATCCAGATTAGAATTTGTGGCGCAGACCGACACC44                                 __________________________________________________________________________ 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for producing a meningococcal group B porin protein-polysaccharide conjugate comprising:(a) providing a recombinantly produced, purified and refolded meningococcal group B porin from E. coli host cells, wherein said refolded porin is produced by a process comprising:(i) expressing the mature porin in E. coli transfected with a gene coding for said mature porin to produce the mature porin in the form of inclusion bodies; (ii) isolating said inclusion bodies; (iii) suspending and dissolving said isolated inclusion bodies in an aqueous solution of a denaturant; (iv) diluting the solution obtained in step (iii) with a detergent; and (v) passing said diluted solution obtained in step (iv) through a gel filtration column; whereby said refolded porin is obtained; (b) obtaining a N. meningitidis capsular polysaccharide; and (c) conjugating said refolded porin of step (a) to said polysaccharide of step (b).
 2. A method for producing a meningococcal group B porin fusion protein-polysaccharide conjugate comprising:(a) producing from E. coli host cells a recombinantly produced, purified and refolded fusion protein comprising a meningococcal group B porin covalently linked to a N-terminal fragment of the T7 gene φ10 capsid protein which includes the leader sequence; (b) obtaining a N. meningitidis capsular polysaccharide; and (c) conjugating said fusion protein of step (a) to said polysaccharide of step (b).
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said fusion protein comprises a meningococcal group B porin covalently linked to amino acids 1 to 20 or 1 to 22 of the T7 gene φ10 capsid protein.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said capsular polysaccharide is a group B N. meningitidis capsular polysaccharide.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein said capsular polysaccharide is a group B N. meningitidis capsular polysaccharide.
 6. The method of claim 4 further comprising N-propionylating said capsular polysaccharide prior to conjugating to said porin.
 7. The method of claim 5, further comprising N-propionylating said capsular polysaccharide prior to conjugating to said fusion protein.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein said porin is a group B class 2 porin.
 9. The method of claim 2, wherein said porin is a group B class 2 porin.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said porin is a group B class 3 porin.
 11. The method of claim 2, wherein said porin is a group B class 3 porin.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said porin has the amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO.
 2. 13. The method of claim 2, wherein said porin has the amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO.
 2. 